PETER Morgan – the writer of 2008’s superb character-driven film Frost/Nixon – has turned the microscope to another meeting of egos, this time between US President Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid) and energetic UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The Special Relationship examines the most complex Bill and Tony relationship to be found outside a cricket commentary box, as the singular vision and close personal friendship of the leaders is put to the test by domestic political forces and personal political goals.
Frost/Nixon’s Sheen reprises the Blair character he played in Morgan’s The Queen (2006) and made-for-television film The Deal (2003) and as usual, the talented actor does an incredible job of impersonation .
The other actors in the film’s central quartet (Tony and Cherie Blair, Bill and Hillary Clinton) bring more of their personalities to their characters rather than try to copy the originals.
Quaid is sometimes maligned for his choices of roles and his clunky performances, but his performance here should silence the doubters for some time at least.
The sympathetic treatment afforded to the main protagonists may rile some, but one of the film’s biggest strengths is the enormous amounts of empathy created for its characters.
Blair may come across as a hero idealist, but the film also sets up his future involvement with the Bush administration as folly.
The Special Relationship (M)
Directed by: Richard Loncraine
Starring: Michael Sheen, Dennis Quaid
Rating: Four stars
Reviewed by: Christian Wilkinson